Pemex Approves Emissions Plan, Opening Door to ESG Investors

(Bloomberg) -- Petroleos Mexicanos approved a sustainability plan through 2030 that includes reducing methane emissions by 30%, a move that may pave the way for ESG investors to return to the world’s most indebted oil producer.

Pemex’s board of directors approved an environmental, social & governance plan after a meeting on Friday to review the proposal, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter.

Among the series of targets established, the Mexican state-owned company aims to spend from 14% to 18% of capital expenditures in 2024 on the wider plan, according to a document seen by Bloomberg News.

A representative from Pemex did not reply to a request for comment. 

The blueprint, which has been in development for the past year, aims to help Pemex meet the requirements of some funds that have been limiting exposure to the company’s bonds because of its ESG record. Pemex is in desperate need of financing as it tries to reinvigorate flagging production and reduce its roughly $106 billion debt burden.

A growing number of banks and investors are demanding companies around the world mitigate practices they quantify as harmful to the planet. Pemex’s reputation has been marred by a host of mishaps over the past few years, including two massive methane leaks, a deadly offshore platform accident and a gas explosion that set the Gulf of Mexico ablaze.

Finishing the plan was also a condition for some banks to renew revolving credit lines that are up for renegotiation later this year, one of the people added.

“Approval of the plan is significant as it might help the company attract more investments from asset managers with restrictive ESG policies,” Sebastian Hofmeister, a credit analyst at Lucror Analytics wrote in a note. 

Pemex said last week in an earnings call that the ESG plan, initially submitted to its sustainability committee in December with the help of credit ratings agency S&P Global, could be presented to the board as soon as March 1.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA, HSBC Holdings Plc and BNP Paribas were among the banks that signed on to help develop the plan, Bloomberg News reported last year.

(Updates with analyst quote in the eighth paragraph.)

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